Its clean, sweeping and elegant lines made it a beacon of Modernism when it was built in 1933. The best designers and artists of the day worked on the interior, and Coco Chanel and Noël Coward were among prewar guests who injected a dose of magnificence and glamour.
Despite the cracked paintwork and scaffolding, the Midland Hotel in Morecambe, now undergoing extensive refurbishment, is still a wonder. The only setback is its location — on the north Lancashire coast.
Anywhere else and boutique hoteliers such as Malmaison, Alias and even Rocco Forte would be clamouring to manage it, but Morecambe has an image problem. Most people know of it because of the comedian Eric Bartholomew, who took Morecambe as a stage name in honour of his birthplace. But could the lack of a cappuccino culture in these parts account for the reticence, or does it run deeper? Bill Maynard, of the developers Urban Splash, is passionate about the Midland. Unfortunately the smooth operators in the hospitality business do not share his enthusiasm. Well, at least not yet . . .
Built to accommodate wealthy mill-owners, the Midland quickly earned an international reputation, and it still looks as good as anything in South Beach, Miami. Completion is still 12 months away, but even in its gutted state there is something about the building’s economy and simplicity that is breathtaking. The narrow foyer that curves the entire width of the structure is as elegant today as it was 80 years ago.Decorative work by Eric Gill, Eric Ravilious and Marion Dorn waits in protective covers to be unveiled for new, appreciative guests.
Surely the prospect of a £7 million grant and being restored by one of the most successful developers in the business should be a golden business opportunity for a canny investor? No? Then what about the ten-acre Central Promenade site adjacent to the hotel? Urban Splash has been appointed preferred developers by Lancaster City Council, and Flacq of London have been appointed architects after winning a Royal Institute of British Architects competition.
“They love the building,” Maynard says, “they love the views.” But they are just not entirely taken with Morecambe.
“There are three or four million people within an hour’s drive of Morecambe. The only downside is the lack of facilities,” says Tom Bloxham, Urban Splash’s chairman and co-founder. “It’s too early for the private sector — they’re still sceptical. But as we’ve proved in Manchester and Liverpool, good architecture and design can turn places around.”
Bexhill-on-Sea never suffered like this. When the De La Warr Pavilion reopened there last year, after an £8 million facelift, the great and the good were on hand to toast its rejuvenation. But while seaside towns along the South Coast retained an air of respectability through the lean years, Morecambe’s resolve slipped. Once thought of as the upmarket alternative to bawdy Blackpool, this once proud resort was effectively thrown to the dogs.
Actively promoted as a great place to send end-of-the-line welfare cases, the tall Victorian guesthouses filled with junkies and newly released prisoners. Between the late 1980s and early 1990s the town reached its nadir. Morecambe was the place Morrissey famously called “the coastal town they forgot to close down”.
“Morecambe has had specific problems that are now being addressed,” says Geoffrey Rowlinson, a partner at Fisher Wrathall, an estate agent covering north Lancashire and Cumbria. “However, there are several exciting and optimistic issues about Morecambe itself. One is the proposed road link from the M6, which will rejuvenate property prices on the north side of the River Lune. Another is the development of the Midland Hotel, and finally the regeneration of the west end of Morecambe. The town is undergoing a massive change.”
You can still find a five-bedroom, three-storey house just 50 yards from the beach for under £100,000. The same house in the historic university town of Lancaster, just three miles away, might easily top £250,000. With its spectacular location, handsome family-friendly housing stock, and proximity to the best countryside in Britain, you do not need to be Kirstie Allsopp to calculate the potential. On top of this, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently announced a generous £13 million project to rejuvenate the town’s beaches and improve sea defences.
There is another £37 million being invested in the west end of Morecambe, including £7 million from Northwest Regional Development Agency. The aim is to improve conditions and encourage more families to buy in the area. Without a fast route to the M6 or decent connections with Lancaster, however, the whiff of renewal is still some way off.
But the ripple effect has begun and it is spreading much farther than the estate agents could have imagined. Kate Drummond is a freelance illustrator for the BBC, who exemplifies the creative home-worker who can happily ignore travelling time and viable commutes. Last December she cashed in her one-bedroom flat in Brighton for a three-bedroom terrace in Morecambe. It came with original stained-glass windows and enough money left over from sale of her old flat to fit a new kitchen and bathroom. “When Starbucks opened next to the organic food shop in Brighton, it was the final straw,” Drummond explains. A huge fan of prewar and mid-century styles, Drummond is now spoilt for choice for the tearooms she chooses to work in. Her favourite is Brucciani’s, an original late Art Deco café occupying the seafront a stone’s throw from the Midland — and, no, they don’t do cappuccino. “It’s a great place to sit and work, with a cup of tea and a teacake,” she says. “It’s quiet, it’s cheap, and it’s right on the seafront.”
Are you listening, hoteliers? Not everyone, it seems, is worried about Morecambe’s moribund image. The BBC is shifting 2,000 jobs to Manchester. Just like Drummond, many of them will be hoping to get the best value they can out of the move. Just as Brighton has become an extension of London, Urban Splash’s vision of Morecambe is a northern equivalent of Manchester and Liverpool. Except that having the best of both worlds here is a more viable option. The sale of a house in Shepherds Bush would easily equate to a smart flat in the city and a large house on the coast.
Despite all those positives, the town is still viewed as a lost cause. Maynard dismisses this: “They said the same thing about Liverpool. This is a great resort, and it’s got all the ingredients of something that will work. Morecambe is an awkward market and it needs the flair that Urban Splash is good at.”
www.midlandhotelmorecambe.co.uk
